Vol. XXII, No. 75 [ BusinessWorld Online ]
Friday, November 7, 2008 | MANILA, PHILIPPINES
DAVAO CITY — Mt. Apo and 10 other areas in Mindanao and Palawan will be in the list of eco-tourism sites up for promotion by a subregional economic group.
A report from the Mindanao Economic Development Council showed the other Mindanao sites are Malawi Island and Dapitan in the Zamboanga peninsula, Camiguin Island in Northern Mindanao, Davao Gulf and Samal Island in the Davao Region, Lake Sebu in Central Mindanao, Aguasan Marsh in the Caraga Region and Lake Lanao in the autonomous Muslim region. Identified sites in Palawan are Kayangan and Barracuda lakes in Coron Island.
Details of these sites will also be presented when tourism representatives of the Brunei-Indonesia-Malaysia-Philippines-East ASEAN Growth Area (BIMP-EAGA) meet this month in Manado, Indonesia.
BIMP-EAGA is an economic subgroup of the larger 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).
"What the Philippines and BIMP-EAGA want to develop is a kind of eco-tourism that involves local, grassroots communities so they are part of the development and benefit from it," said Narzalina Z. Lim, Asian Development Bank consultant on eco-tourism.
She said capacity-building training for communities should be held to hone skills in running tourism-related businesses.
Infrastructure facilities that will improve travel access must be put in place, said Ms. Lim, who served as Tourism secretary during the Aquino administration.
A destination is appropriate for eco-tourism based on green standards for sustainability, respect for communities, social responsibility, economic sustainability and education, she added.
Mary Ann M. Montemayor, BIMP-EAGA tourism council chairman, said mechanisms should be able to identify strengths and weaknesses of eco-tourism sites.
However, she said air links between tourism hubs have yet to be developed despite the existing fifth freedom traffic rights, which allows an airline to land on any airport within the subregion to service other passengers en route to its final destination.
Airline companies have noted that some routes within the subregion are not viable. — Carmelito Q. Francisco
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